The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), the trade body for producers and retailers whose members include major supermarkets, has asked to meet community pubs minister Brandon Lewis to emphasise the importance of wines and spirits to pubs and urge a rethink on tax.
The WSTA has written to Lewis asking for a meeting ahead of the Budget in March.
WSTA chief executive Miles Beale said: "We want the pubs minister to understand and recognise that the well-being of British pubs is at stake.
“Wine and spirits account for 41% of the value of products sold in the on-trade, or some £9.4bn annually and are a vital component to the future of the pub industry. The clear message to Government is that any rise in alcohol taxation - on beer, cider wine or spirits - has an immediate and negative impact on a British industry with potential."
The trade body met the economic secretary to the Treasury, Sajid Javid, this week in its annual pre-Budget meeting to stress the importance of ending the alcohol duty escalator and offer closer co-operation to tackle duty fraud.
Beale said:?"Few British businesses have been hampered as much as those in the wine and spirits sector over recent years. As if the current trading environment wasn't challenging enough, WSTA members have been buffeted by a combination of alcohol and fuel duty escalators, rising costs of raw materials and a regressive alcohol strategy that threatens suffocation by red tape.
"As we are facing a triple dip recession, the Treasury should be looking to ease the regulatory and tax burdens on an industry that already contributes some £16bn to the public purse and supports close to 2m jobs. We are calling on the Government to take a different approach and to encourage growth and job creation in the industry."
